{"id":11911,"date":"2024-03-13T08:30:42","date_gmt":"2024-03-13T08:30:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/f95zoneusa.com\/?p=11911"},"modified":"2024-03-13T08:30:42","modified_gmt":"2024-03-13T08:30:42","slug":"cordelia-scaife-mays-colcom-foundation-grants-reprieve-from-extinction-status-to-the-ivory-billed-woodpecker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/f95zoneusa.com\/cordelia-scaife-mays-colcom-foundation-grants-reprieve-from-extinction-status-to-the-ivory-billed-woodpecker\/","title":{"rendered":"Cordelia Scaife May’s Colcom Foundation Grants Reprieve from Extinction Status to the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker"},"content":{"rendered":"
Researchers from the National Aviary, with major funding from the Avian Conservation Endowment (ACE) established by Cordelia Scaife May<\/a>, have succeeded in preventing the “extinction” classification of the ivory-billed woodpecker.<\/p>\n Their exhaustive search, which provided compelling clues about the bird’s continued existence, convinced the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to postpone delisting the iconic species.<\/p>\n Categorizing a species as extinct eliminates crucial protections and essentially surrenders hope.<\/p>\n In October, government officials declared the removal of 21 species from the Endangered Species Act.<\/p>\n But thanks to the outstanding efforts of the National Aviary team and the backing of the ACE Endowment and Colcom Foundation<\/a> spanning over more than a decade, the ivory-bill retains its endangered status, at least for the time being. The impressive collection of evidence – from audio recordings of distinctive calls to video of identifying wing patterns – presented by the team points to the distinct possibility that America’s most mythologized bird is still with us.<\/p>\n The ivory-billed woodpecker is one of America’s most legendary birds. With its 30-inch wingspan, brilliant white plumage, and impressive size, accounts of sightings inspired reverence among early naturalists.<\/p>\n Dubbed the “Lord God Bird” for the exclamations of awe it evoked, the ivory-bill was a magnificent resident of southern swamps and forests.<\/p>\n But, excessive hunting and habitat loss in the late 19th and early 20th centuries devastated the species. The last accepted sighting occurred in Louisiana’s Tensas River basin in 1944. Most experts declared the ivory-bill extinct by the 1950s. Its majestic form faded into memory.<\/p>\n Or did it?<\/p>\n In 2004, the birding world erupted when a video from an Arkansas bayou documented an apparent ivory-bill. This sparked a frenzy of searching and a flurry of follow-up sightings. The ivory-bill seemed to have cheated extinction after all.<\/p>\n Mellon heiress Cordelia Scaife May<\/a>, established the $3 million Avian Conservation Endowment with the National Aviary in 2005 which has provided significant funding for ivory-bill detection efforts<\/p>\n